July 13, 2010

hey everyone, 

so the enter button doesn't ever work and the shift button is hard to use haha. well things are going good.  thanks for your letters. i got dads letter and letter 1 so far. we dont get mail here on saturday or sunday and friday was a holiday.

the language is coming. thanks so much for rosetta stone. it really has given me a big head start. so far we've learned how to pray and bear testimony and are working on parts of the first language. in class we learn about how to teach and the language. we dont teach lessons, we teach people. its been a hard concept for me. when we practice, we do scenarios, not a lesson. as i understand it we wont ever practice teaching a lesson. we are supposed to teach according to the needs of the investigator, which we find out through asking good questions. we will do a practice where we are recorded only twice in the last week, unlike provo. but we can sign up to practice teaching. the plan is to do one each week.

  

so for our first week it was just my companion and i in our room. each room has six beds. this week we got some brazilian roommates. they are very nice and its cool to work on the language with them.

today is pday. this morning we went to the temple. we ride one of those nice tour buses. last week it was full and i had to sit on this little seat next to the driver. it was pretty crazy, but a cool experience. we turned right across three lanes in a huge tour bus in traffic haha. so far we've done laundry, shined the shoes, and after this we will go outside the mtc. we went out last week too. it was cool. there isn't a store in the mtc or anything, you have to go out and buy it.

it rained for the first time today. we didnt go to the federal police last week. it was canceled. were going tomorrow, but in the afternoon thankfully. i have a fun district. we laugh a lot.

the food is still good. lots of heavy food.  on sunday they showed the joseph smith movie. it was often (I think he means "awesome"). they show a different movie every week. next week is the testaments in portuguese with english subtitles. i plan on going to see that one. joseph smith movie was in english.

i heard a funny joke for dad. a funny term for a bald man is 'chrome dome' haha. i love you, miss you, and look up to you so much dad. thanks for all you have sacrificed for me. i love my family. you guys are the best. i could not ask for anything more. i know this gospel is true and that our prayers are heard and answered.

i love you.
elder hawkley